“Dr. Achilles Nordmann, of Basle,” says the _Lancet_, “has published a
description of twenty-five bowel lesions due to the operation of
administering enemata. They include three complete perforations and
ulcers, and wounds of various depths and sizes. The causes of these
lesions seem to have been the use of defective instruments, ignorance of
the direction of the rectum, catching of the transverse fold on the
tube, extreme irritation of the mucous membrane of the bowel, and
obstructions caused by certain conditions of the uterus, the fœtal head,
or an enlarged prostate. As a rule, these lesions are to be found on the
anterior wall of the rectum, from one to seven centimetres from the
anus. They are not always easy to diagnose, as other foreign bodies or
caustics may produce similar appearances. Tubercular and hæmorrhoidal
ulcers may be mistaken for them; these are, however, generally higher
up. A perforating wound gives rise to paraproctitis, but this is not
necessarily fatal, though a stricture generally results.”—_N. Y. Medical
Journal._
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